‘Lopes knock off No. 3 North Platte

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LCC’s Jacoby Harrison (#44) and Geodice Ortiz (#24) defend a shot by North Platte’s Aireon Porter of Omaha, Neb. in juco action on Friday, Feb. 7 at the LCC Wellness Center. LCC upset the No. 3 nationally ranked Knights, 67-59. The ‘Lopes also defeated McCook Community College, 78-76, to improve to 9-16 on the season. LCC has won six of its last seven games.

The’Lopes would stage the upset and knock off the Knights, 67-59, to hand them their third loss of the season. North Platte fell to 9-3 in the regional standings and 21-3 overall.

LCC jumped all over North Platte early building an early double digit lead.

Lamar cooled off offensively over the course of the first half but played very strong defense holding North Platte to just eight made field goals in the first half. The ‘Lopes led 35-27 at the break.

“I thought our defensive effort was the difference in the first half,” said LCC head Coach Adam Schwartz. “We also did a great job on the glass.”

North Platte would establish themselves in the paint and on the boards in the second half and chipped away at LCC’s lead.

Lamar always had an answer never allowing North Platte to take a lead and with some free throws in the final seconds would hold on for the victory.

“We held a very good team to 35 percent shooting from the field,” noted Coach Schwartz. “Our kids really battled and executed on both ends and were able to get some big plays.”

Lamar was led by Curtis Redd with 18 points. Jacoby Harrison came off the bench to finish with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Tiwian Kendley chipped in with 11 points.

Lamar shot 47 percent from the field while holding North Platte to just 35 percent including 11 percent (2/17) from the 3-point arc. Lamar also out rebounded North Platte 39-33.

“It was a great team win for us,” said Schwartz on the signature victory. “We did a good job of executing our game plan and made some big plays down the stretch.”

The’ Lopes didn’t have very long to enjoy the victory as they turned around and hosted the McCook Community College Indians on Saturday.

Lamar would come out very flat and trail by as many as 15 points in the first half.

“It took us a while to get our legs under us,” said Schwartz, “McCook just came at us and we weren’t quite ready.”

The ‘Lopes would chip away at the lead in the last few minutes of the first half and go into halftime behind 41-34.

“We were a step slow defensively and we let them get going offensively,” explained Schwartz. “But we were able to string some stops together late in the half and cut into the lead.”

The second half would be a different story as Lamar came out with some energy on both ends and began to further cut into McCook’s lead.

Lamar would trim the Indians lead to two points on a couple of occasions but McCook did a good job of answering.

“We did a great job of getting back into the game and we were able to get consecutive stops and convert on the offensive end,” said Schwartz. “McCook did a better job of not letting us get over the hump and get the lead.”

McCook would hold on to the lead the entire second half until late when Tiwian Kendley got an offensive put back and was fouled. He would convert the free throw to tie the score at 76-76.

Lamar would force a shot clock violation on McCook’s last possession.

The ‘Lopes called a time out just across half court with under eight seconds to go.

Kendley received the inbounds pass and drove to the rim. He knocked down a fade away jumper to put the ‘Lopes ahead by two.

McCook’s last second shot was off the mark as LCC escaped with the victory.

Kendley led the ‘Lopes with 22 points. Curtis Redd turned in an outstanding game with 11 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.

“It was a great team win,” said Schwartz. “Our guys kept battling and fought their way back into the game. They showed a lot of heart and fight.”

Lamar (5-6 and 9-16) is back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 12 when they host the Otero Jr. College Rattlers (6-7 and 17-9) at 7:30 p.m. at the LCC Wellness Center and then entertain the Northeastern Jr. College Plainsmen who lead the South Sub-Region IX standings at 10-2 and 23-2 on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 7:30.

LCC defeated Otero on a last second shot at the buzzer, 75-74, on Jan. 31 and lost to Northeastern, 86-76, on Jan. 11.